Asked on Monday to describe the process from being drafted to being a member of the Winnipeg Jets’ top-six forward contingent, Jack Roslovic broke his gaze from the reporter and looked up at the clock that sits overtop the whiteboard in the team’s dressing room.

“What time is it?” he asked with a smile. “I don’t have all day to answer that.”

Instead, he tried to summarize it with a few words.

“It’s been a ride,” he said. “Just developing and growing and becoming a complete player every day. Using speed is one of my assets, that when I’m skating fast and skating hard, I’m playing my best. Just trying to find that one a consistent basis.”

It’s a close race between Nikolaj Ehlers and Jack Roslovic for the team’s top forward honours 20-plus games into the season. Ehlers leads the team in goals, but Roslovic has taken such significant steps in his development this year that’s it’s tough to leave him out of the equation.

He’s the most improved player by a mile, but those awards were always for the kids who weren’t good but you gave them the award so they wouldn’t feel left out.

Roslovic is both very good and also most improved.

“I would say it’s just doing the same things but more consistently,” he said. “It’s almost becoming (second) nature there. The more I can become familiar without even thinking about doing it, the better I will get.”

Ehlers feels he and Roslovic, or ‘Rosie’ as he’s affectionately known, are similar in their styles of game. They also struggled with some of the same things as they made their way up.

“We’re both doing the right things right now,” Ehlers said. “We’re skating, we’re getting the pucks deep and working their defencemen and not just turning off pucks. We stay in the battle, which is something I didn’t do much in my first couple of years and something I’ve been working on and he’s been working on that, too, now.”

Maurice said that part, about not turning off pucks but rather battling for them, is true for almost all young players.

“And that’s the challenge sometimes in coaching, and I understand the, ‘Hey, if you played this guy more when he first came in, look at the offence.’ Because there’s still the flash, the skills have always been there and they do some really good stuff,” Maurice said. “But there’s a whole big piece to the game that they have to learn and that’s just turning pro. So, they’ll hit 25 (years old) and they’ll score a bunch of goals and they’ll say, ‘See, I told you he was that good of a player.’ It does take time and there has to be some patience.

Maurice said that having Roslovic (and Nikolaj Ehlers) playing with a guy like Blake Wheeler accelerates their growth.

“He is the catalyst for those guys changing the curve from normal to accelerated,” Maurice said.

Roslovic is now getting the ice time that many felt he deserved last season. Ehlers said it can be hard to show what you got when your minutes are limited.

“For him, as a skilled, fast forward, now he gets a lot of ice time, he knows what to do, he’s got some experience, and for sure he had the potential,” Ehlers said. “Everybody saw that, and everybody is seeing it now. He’s moving in the right direction, he’s playing really well and as a line, we’re all playing together. It feels good.”

Kulikov injury still unknown

The Jets were waiting to get back to Winnipeg before they would find out the extent of Dmitry Kulikov’s injury.

On Monday, and back home from a three-game road trip through California, they were still waiting on the results of tests to see how long they might be without their defenceman.

What is known is that Kulikov won’t play on Tuesday against the Dallas Stars.

The 29-year-old was hit hard by Anaheim Ducks forward Carter Rowney during the first period of Winnipeg’s 3-0 win at Honda Center on Friday.

Kulikov didn’t return to the game and missed the second half of Winnipeg’s back to back in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Appleton progressing

Speaking of injuries, forward Mason Appleton appears to be getting closer to a return to the lineup.

Appleton skated on Monday morning prior to Winnipeg’s full practice at BellMTS Place. Appleton could join the jets for their morning skate on Tuesday, although he won’t play.

Maurice said Appleton likely won’t dress on Thursday in Dallas, either, but could return on Sunday after getting a couple of practices under his belt his week.

Appleton busted up his foot while trying to intercept a throw during a game of toss around prior to the Heritage Classic in Regina. The 23-year-old Green Bay native was reduced to a walking boot and hasn’t played in 16 games since.

Meanwhile, Gabriel Bourque also skated on Monday but he is still a week away. He’s expected to return to practice this week but will begin his on-ice path to return wearing a non-contact jersey.

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